by Nash, Bobby
“I have a problem,” she said once they were near Jacob’s desk. She opted not to sit.
“I gathered as much,” he said with a wicked smile as he eased into the high-backed leather office chair behind his finished cherry oak desk. “Why else would you darken my door? And alone, no less.”
“I beg your pardon?”
His comment had caught her off guard, which she realized was probably his intent. He motioned toward the nearest chair, but she waved off the invitation to sit and started pacing back and forth in front of the desk.
Jacob was an ally of sorts. She did not doubt that about him, but there was something about the man that she didn’t completely trust, despite having done business with him for years. Jacob liked to play games.
Alexandra did not.
“I understand you’re a very busy woman, Alexandra,” he said. “But everything with you is always urgent. It’s always ‘I need’ or ‘I want’ with you. It’s never just ‘Hi, Jacob. How are you?’ or something along those lines. Have you never noticed that?”
Her face must have betrayed her confusion. He did not laugh, but his smile did widen at her bewildered expression. There was no way she was going to get anything accomplished unless she played along.
“How so?” she asked, taking the bait.
“Lunch.”
It was a simple enough answer, if not the last one she expected him to say.
“Lunch?’ she asked, unsure she had heard him correctly.
“Yes. Lunch. I’m sure you’ve heard of it,” he joked. “It’s that meal one usually eats in the middle of the day, sometime between breakfast and drinks at the club.”
She snorted. “Yes. I know what lunch is, thank you.”
“Excellent.” He clapped his hands together. “Well, I would very much like to have lunch with you one day soon, Alexandra.”
“Sure,” she said, stepping over to the window and looking down toward the street. “But why?”
Jacob chuckled. “Why do you think? I’d like to get to know you a little better, Alexandra. All I know about you is what is listed in your file.”
She turned away from the window to face him. “You have a file on me?”
“Of course,” he said matter of fact. “And do you know what that file contains?”
She shook her head.
“It talks about your work. It is full of facts, dates, and times. It’s really rather dry reading.”
“So sorry to disappoint you.”
“And that is why I would like us to have lunch together,” Jacob said. “It is my wish to change the nature of our relationship from one that is simply about business to something more akin to friendship.”
“Friendship?”
“Yes. I want you and I to be friends, Alexandra. I would like to get to know the rest of you, the part that’s not out chasing ghosts and goblins.”
Now it was her turn not to laugh. “You mean like a date?”
“If that’s what you want to call it.”
She gave him a look. “You do know I’m engaged, right?”
Jacob stood and crossed to stand next to her at the window. “I’m inviting you to lunch, Alexandra. I’m not asking you to marry me. You may bring along your betrothed, what was his name again?”
“Joshua.”
“Yes. You may bring Joshua along as well, if that will make you more comfortable.”
“Fine,” she said, trying to move things along so they could get down to the business at hand. “It would be my pleasure to meet you for lunch. Happy?”
Jacob smiled. “Ecstatic.”
“Good. Now, can we get back to my problem?” she asked.
“Of course. I am all ears, Alexandra,” Jacob said. “Please tell me the problem that has brought you to my door this day.”
“Him.” She pointed to the man pacing back and forth in the shadow of the building across the street.
“Who is he?”
“I was kind of hoping you could tell me?”
Jacob took another look. “I don’t know that man,” he said.
“Damn,” she muttered. “I was hoping you would be able to tell me why he’s following me?”
“Did he try to hurt you?” He did not turn away from the window when he asked the question, but Alexandra couldn’t help but sense true concern in his voice.
“No. He just followed me. I think he was waiting for me outside my apartment.”
“And you don’t know who he is or why he might be after you?”
“No.”
“And you came here because…” he let his words trail off in unspoken accusation. He wanted to know if she thought that he or someone in his office had sent this man to follow her.
“Because when I noticed I’d picked up a tail I made a beeline for the nearest place I knew I could find a friend to help me,” she said. “This was the closest place to where I was and I thought of you.”
“Well played, Alexandra,” he said. “You are quite correct. Anytime you require assistance, I am here to help you.”
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome.”
She turned to look at Jacob. “So, what do we do now?”
Jacob smiled at her. “We find out who this man is and what he’s after.” He did an about face and headed toward the elevator.
“And just how do we plan to do that?” she asked, hastily rushing to catch up to his lengthy stride.
Jacob summoned the elevator and they stepped inside.
“I thought we might ask him,” Jacob said as the doors closed.
The plan was deceptively simple.
Alexandra Holzer left the offices of the OESI a few minutes after Jacob Black escorted her back to the lobby. She was surprised to see that the same two people were still waiting on the elevator as they had been before she went upstairs. If she didn’t have more pressing matters on her mind, she might have taken time to give a second thought to the hell of constantly waiting for an elevator they could never board. It must have been nerve-wracking.
Once more wrapped in her winter attire, Alexandra made sure that the man who had been watching her from across the street saw her leave. She turned right out the door and headed back the way she had come in earlier. They were taking a calculated risk, but she guessed that he would follow her again, especially as he had waited across the street the entire time she had been inside the OESI.
It was all she could do to refrain from looking over her shoulder to make sure he was behind her as she walked, careful to keep her stride normal. If she were to appear too anxious, she might spook him. While she found pleasure in the irony of that possibility, she needed answers and the only way to get them was to lead him where she needed him to go.
Stick to the plan, the little voice in her head that spoke to her when she was afraid told her in her own voice. Almost there. Stay cool.
Up ahead was her spot. At the corner of the building, she turned right and headed down the narrow alley that separated the building that housed the OESI and it’s neighbor, a pre-war four-story walk up. Constructed of old brick and mortar, the building, which was currently home to a garment manufacturer, a lawyer’s office, two tailor shops, and a deli, looked even older when compared to the shiny new concrete and steel of the building next door.
The alley, however, was the great equalizer. Almost always shrouded in shadow and rarely as cared for as the public-facing sides of the buildings, the narrow opening was just barely large enough for the trucks to get through to collect the garbage. Smelly refuse overflowed from several dumpsters that had been staggered apart along both sides of the alley. The pungent aroma was all encompassing and stung her nose, but Alexandra kept her course. Holding her breath as she passed the more fetid containers, she tried not to break stride.
After passing the third and forth dumpsters, which were staggered in a row, she moved closer to the wall, obscuring her from sight. No longer able to see her, the man following her picked up the pace and hurried deeper into the
alley. He stepped around the corner––
––and found himself face to face with Jacob Black.
“Hi there,” Jacob said.
What happened next was so fast that Alexandra almost missed it. The stranger was quick. He swung out a fist and caught Jacob unawares, which was something she never thought she would see.
More stunned than hurt, Jacob staggered back a step. The two “associates” who had accompanied him into the alley took a step forward to intervene, but a curt hand gesture from Jacob stopped them short.
The man took a step forward to advance on Jacob, hands balled into fists at his side.
He did not get a second step.
Jacob slammed his palm forward, his arm extending to its full reach and planted it into the stranger’s chest. The force of the blow sent the man airborne as he flew backward into the graffiti-covered wall beside one of the overflowing dumpsters on the opposite side of the alley. He dropped to the littered pavement, stunned, but otherwise in one piece.
Not for the first time, Alexandra wondered what she had stumbled into the middle of this time. “Is he…? She asked and started forward, only to have one of Jacob’s men take hold of her arm. He didn’t jerk or squeeze, but held her firm. She shot him an irritated look.
His only reply was a short shake of his head.
The stranger recovered quickly and rested on his haunches, an angry snarl forming deep in his chest.
The man lunched himself at Jacob.
It was a clumsy attack, easily telegraphed, and Jacob was ready for it. He sidestepped the attack, pushed against the man’s weight as he passed, and let gravity do the rest. The newcomer collided with the dumpster. It rang with a dull thud.
Before he could recover, Jacob grabbed the man and pulled him upright. With a not-so-gentle shove, he pushed the man against the garbage bin and held him there with a hand against his chest.
“What say we try that again?” Jacob said through clenched teeth, his voice just above a whisper.
A soft snarl escaped the newcomer’s lips. He recoiled under the intensity of Jacob’s stare. “Who are you, mate?” the man said, his Irish lilt catching.
“Why are you following my friend?”
“Following…?” the man said, seemingly confused. “Following who?”
“Me.”
Alexandra stepped out from cover and approached. Jacob’s associate did not try to hold her back this time.
“Should I know you, lady?”
“Don’t feed me that line, buster,” she said, anger getting the best of her. “You’ve been following me since I left home and I want to know why!”
“She’s not the only one who would like answers,” Jacob said plainly as he grabbed the front of the man’s shirt and pulled him closer so they were only inches apart. He lowered his voice, a gesture meant to invoke terror. It worked. “I assume you know who I am?”
“Not a clue, mate.”
Jacob pulled him closer and lowered his voice so that Alexandra couldn’t hear what was said. “Then I’m guessing you’re smart enough to know what I am, aren’t you?”
The man nodded quickly as the realization of his predicament set in.
“Good. So, I’ll ask you one more time, why were you following my friend?”
“Your friend? She’s your friend?”
“Yes. She is.” Jacob sniffed at the air. “Well, now, that’s something new,” he said. “Or should I say, something old? A Slaugh?”
“How did you know?”
“I know a great many things,” Jacob said. “I know that it has been a long time since your kind walked this plane of existence.” He sniffed again. “Or I should say, it’s been that long since a pureblooded Slaugh was seen on this world.”
“How dare you?” the Slaugh hissed.
“Oh, I dare a lot of things, my friend,” Jacob said with cool calm. “If you had shown up here and announced yourself, we would probably be having this discussion in a much more pleasant atmosphere, probably over a pint of something from your homeland. Of course, that’s not what happened so here we are, eh?” Jacob motioned to their less than ideal surroundings.
“What do you want?” the Slaugh asked.
Jacob released his grip on the man’s shirt. “For starters, I want to know why you’re here. Knowing your kind, I’m guessing you didn’t come alone. You do like traveling in packs, as I recall. How many of you are there and what do you want with Alexandra Holzer?”
“And what if I don’t wish to tell you that, mate?”
“In that case, you and I will have a problem.” Jacob’s smile returned as he added, “––mate.”
He took a step toward the possessed man.
“Do we have a problem?”
Before he could answer, everything went dark. The last thing he saw was Jacob Black’s terrifying smile.
Joshua Demerest was running late.
He had been so busy recently. Between the case he was working and his extracurricular adventures with Alexandra, the past few weeks had been a blur of movement. They had jumped from one adventure to another with barely a moment to catch their breath before leaping headfirst into the next terrifying event.
Ever the skeptic, Joshua had a hard time wrapping his analytical mind around Alexandra’s world, but even he was hard pressed to dispute some of the weird and fantastical things he had seen. Ghosts, goblins, and ghouls had always been things found in books and fairy tales. They were certainly not the sort of things that happened in the real world. There were rules to how the world worked.
Then he met Alexandra Holzer and the rulebook went right out the window.
Alex thrived on the strange the way he lived for facts. As much as she threw herself into keeping the world safe, he did likewise, both at her side and in a court of law. Joshua was a junior attorney with a small, but growing New York law firm. Although he had yet to take the lead on a case all his own, Joshua had sat second chair a few times with the senior partners during trial. He loved the process of a trial, the arguments, and uncovering the facts, but where he truly thrived was in research. Joshua was a master at finding the perfect ruling that could unhinge the opposition’s case.
Being good at his job kept him in the law library most of the day, not to mention the occasional overnight stay. He had logged more cat naps on the frayed leather sofa in the anteroom than he cared to admit, but he knew his hours of hard work would soon pay off when his chance to sit first chair when a case of his own came. According to the senior partners, that day was coming soon.
For Joshua, it couldn’t arrive fast enough.
When he caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall, he let out a curse through clenched teeth. He was running late. Again. He had promised to meet Alex at Samuel’s office to follow up on the containment vessels they had dropped off for him to dispose of safely. Alex was convinced that there was a way for them to replicate the process used to trap the wandering spirit inside a similar vessel to make it safe to travel with one in tow.
Spirits had a habit of being messy, especially when they were unhappy. After the first slimy one all but destroyed his car’s interior, he had found a used van at an affordable rate and with Alex in tow they put down a deposit. The van ran well, but aside from two front seats, the rear was open and empty, which made it easy to hose out after a job if need be.
Gathering up his assorted papers and notepads filled with details on the case to be followed up on after he got back home later that night, Joshua shuffled everything inside his briefcase and with a little extra muscle, managed to get it closed.
“I’m going to need a bigger briefcase if this keeps up,” he groused. This particular case was huge and everyone at the firm had a hand in it, which kept him busy gathering data for whoever shouted the loudest that day.
He looked at the clock again and grimaced. He was late and growing more so by the minute. He was already on the move when he tugged on his coat and scarf. He had mittens in his inner pocket, but chose to forego the
m until he was on the train. Slipping them on and off would only slow him down.
As usual, the train was late and he bounced uncomfortably on the platform as he waited. The frigid air blew daggers against his face, a sure sign that more wicked weather was on the way. By the time he boarded and found an empty seat, he was already a good half hour late for meeting Alexandra and Samuel.
He wasn’t overly concerned. It wasn’t like Alex and Samuel couldn’t talk for hours and hours about their respective work. More than once he had listened to them talk about things that made no logical sense to him. He was a learned man, but they had been talking about the supernatural for years, so much so that the two of them developed shorthand that made anyone not familiar with the ins and outs of the creepies and the crawlies they dealt with feel left out. Joshua tried not to be jealous of the bond between them. In the early days of his relationship with Alex, Joshua had not been as understanding, especially once she shared the darker side of the family business. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that it scared him at first; sometimes it still did, but not enough to chase him away. He loved Alexandra and if that meant dealing with ghosts and goblins or angels and demons, then that was just what he would have to deal with. The alternative, not having her at his side, was not an option.
There were still days, however, when he wished they led more normal lives.
Granted, there were fewer of those days than there used to be.
The discovery they had made in the tower had occupied her thoughts since she discovered the secret they held. Both she and his soon to be father-in-law had talked of little else. She was like a kid with a new Christmas toy.
With luck, they would be so deep into discussion that they wouldn’t even notice he was running behind.
